Airline passenger numbers plummet over Christmas period January 5, 2021 The number of passengers flown by Ryanair and Wizz Air fell over 80 per cent for the second consecutive month in December as a dire year for the industry came to and end. The Irish flier carried just 1.9m people last month, down 83 per cent from 11.2m the year before. For the year as [...]
Morrisons posts sales growth but warns of higher Covid-19 costs January 5, 2021 Morrisons has reported a rise in sales during the second half of the year, but warned that tougher new Covid-19 lockdown measures would increase its costs. The supermarket chain posted an 8.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales excluding fuel in the 22 weeks to the 3 January. Including fuel, like-for-like sales rose 1.9 per [...]
Tested by Covid and Brexit, how have the UK’s borders coped over the New Year? January 4, 2021 After a final frantic negotiating push, the UK and EU agreed a free trade deal in the run-up to Christmas, much to the relief of all concerned. However, despite the deal being done, many were convinced that the New Year would see chaos across the UK’s ports and airports as travellers, businessmen and hauliers all [...]
Post-Christmas footfall plummets as UK shoppers avoid high street January 4, 2021 Footfall across Britain’s high streets plunged almost a quarter last week as Boxing Day sales failed to lure shoppers from their sofas, according to the latest data. The number of Brits hitting the shops fell more than 23 per cent in the seven days after Christmas compared with the week before, latest Springboard figures showed. [...]
Where is Jack Ma? Chinese billionaire ‘missing’ after criticising Beijing January 4, 2021 Speculation has been mounting over the whereabouts of Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma, who has not been seen in public for two months. Ma, who founded ecommerce behemoth Alibaba, hit the headlines in October when he made a speech criticising China’s financial regulators and state banks. The tycoon was reprimanded by Beijing and the $34bn [...]
Matt Hancock: South African coronavirus mutation ‘more of a problem’ than current strain January 4, 2021 The new South African coronavirus mutation is the fastest-spreading Covid strain yet and will likely present a “very, very significant problem” for the UK, the health secretary has warned. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Hancock said he was “incredibly worried” about the South African variant. “That’s why we took the action that we did [...]
Bitcoin turns twelve January 4, 2021 Crypto at a Glance Happy 12th birthday, Bitcoin (for yesterday)! via GIPHY On 3 January, 2009, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, launched the ‘Genesis Block’ and laid the foundations for a new financial order. Yesterday, the original, the undefeated, aaaand stiiiill the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Bitcoin, celebrated by surging to yet-another [...]
Coronavirus: Latest updates on lockdowns, vaccines and Covid mutations around the world January 4, 2021 Countries around the world continue to grapple with rising coronavirus rates, as two new mutations of the virus have sparked calls for fresh restrictions across the globe. German politicians have called for a three-week lockdown extension, as current measures fail to stem ballooning cases across the country. Tight restrictions in place including the closure of [...]
Euro share trading exits London to new EU hubs January 4, 2021 In the first day of trading since Britain left the EU, trading in euro-denominated shares has shifted away from the City to new platforms. The City’s unfettered access to the bloc ended on New Year’s Eve, meaning EU banks and asset managers must use a platform inside the bloc for euro share trading. The Brexit [...]
This Week: PMIs, Morrisons, Next, US unemployment, Fed, M&S January 4, 2021 City A.M. looks at the first business week of 2021 with Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. Monday: UK PMIs for December Flash numbers in the middle of December were surprisingly encouraging, with manufacturing rising to 57.3. “No doubt due to some pre-Brexit stockpiling. services also managed to rebound a touch, coming [...]